adulation

noun

ad·​u·​la·​tion ˌa-jə-ˈlā-shən 

-dyə,

-də-

: extreme or excessive admiration or flattery

Celebrities often feed off the adulation of fans, but that acclaim can be fleeting and illusory.

—Ruben Castenada

During the campaign, he basked in the adulation of his fans and emphasized the promises that drew the biggest applause and the most retweets …

—Peter Coy

… she thought he'd be an egomaniac, spoiled by fame and public adulation.

—Maureen Callahan

… is only starting to reach the level of popular and critical adulation that bands work their entire lives to achieve …

—Steve Kandell

He had not fully understood his achievement until he returned home to an outpouring of adulation from local media.

—David Müller

adulate

ˈa-jə-ˌlāt 

-dyə-

-də-

transitive verb

adulated; adulating; adulates

adulator

ˈa-jə-ˌlā-tər 

noun

adulatory

ˈa-jə-lə-ˌtȯr-ē 

adjective

adulatory crowds

Did you know?

If adulation makes you think of a dog panting after its beloved person, you're on the right etymological track; the word ultimately comes from the Latin verb adūlārī, meaning "to fawn on" (a sense used specifically of the affectionate behavior of dogs) or "to praise insincerely." Adulation has been in use in English since the 15th century. The verb adulate, noun adulator, and adjective adulatory later followed dutifully behind.

Synonyms

• deification
• hero worship
• idolatry
• idolization
• worship
• worshipping
• worshiping

Examples of adulation in a Sentence

The rugby player enjoyed the adulation of his fans.

a writer who inspires adulation in her readers

Recent Examples on the Web

Dwight basking in the adulation of his band of misfits, all of whom adore him for being so adorable. —Sean T. Collins, Vulture, 17 Nov. 2024

Indeed, no one is more preoccupied with such star power than Donald Trump himself, who basks in the adulation and approval of luminaries who support him and regularly lashes out at those who don’t. —Brian Lowry, Variety, 4 Nov. 2024

But even a controversial closer couldn’t take away the six seasons of critical adulation and feverish speculation surrounding this metaphysical mystery. —Alex Galbraith, EW.com, 24 Sep. 2024

No women’s basketball player has previously received the kind of attention and adulation as Clark, the two-time collegiate national player of the year out of Iowa and college basketball’s all-time leading scorer. —Mirna Alsharif, NBC News, 22 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English adulacioun "insincere praise, flattery," borrowed from Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin adūlātiōn-, adūlātiō, from adūlārī "to fawn upon (of dogs), praise insincerely" (of uncertain origin) + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of verbal action

Note: On the presumption that it is a denominal verb, Latin adūlārī has been compared with Sanskrit vāla-, vāra- "hair of a horse's tail, horsehair," Lithuanian valaĩ "horse's tail," though this is difficult both semantically and phonetically. More recently, the base of Latin avidus "greedy, eager" has been proposed as a source (see avid), via a prefixed *ad-awido-, syncopated to *ad-audo-, then with the second d dissimilated to l, yielding *adūlo-, "eagerly seeking something, flattering."

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!